Gaelic Games: Making up ground

They spent years as the fiercest of rivals, now Armagh and Tyrone are side by side in their pursuit of former glories

Much as they might both wish otherwise, history promises to tie Tyrone and Armagh together, presenting their stories as one neat little package for generations to come. For every chapter about Armagh’s fight for inches will be one about how the Tyrone players learnt the national anthem to keep their minds from wandering before games.

The memory of Cormac McAnallen’s funeral will always be tinged with the dignity of the Armagh footballers who helped provide a guard of honour for his coffin, the 2003 All-Ireland final marked by the number of opponents who attended school together. The last six Ulster titles have been split between them, and the standards one sets the other propelled them both to All-Ireland titles. Last weekend, nearly two years on from the apex of their rivalry in the 2003 final, Armagh and Tyrone both arrived in the National League semi-finals wondering if they were regaining